Plastic Model Mojo
Plastic Model Mojo, a podcast dedicated to scale modeling, as well as the news and events around the hobby
Plastic Model Mojo
Scale Model Generalist, with Paul Gloster: Episode 115
Ever wondered how to take your scale modeling skills to the next level, or perhaps you're simply seeking inspiration to dust off that old kit on the shelf? Our latest episode is a treasure trove of modeling wisdom, from the vibrant energy of model shows like Wonderfest and Nationals to the heart and soul poured into every miniature masterpiece. We're not just talking about techniques; we're sharing laughs, personal stories, and the camaraderie that makes this community truly special. So grab your favorite modeling fluid, and join us for an adventure that will reignite your passion for the craft.
This time around, it's all about pushing boundaries and mixing things up! We'll tackle everything from tanks to midget subs, learning that a step outside my comfort zone can lead to a whole new set of skills. We chat with our friend, Paul Gloster from Australia, about the joys and challenges of model building and explore how different genres can enhance one's craft. Our listeners chime in too, offering their own unique insights and questions, proving that every modeler's journey is a story worth sharing.
Finally, we dive into the nitty-gritty of techniques that will elevate your models to new heights. The expertise shared in our community is vast, from tackling decal silvering to mastering the gloss on a mini Ferrari. Whether you're a veteran modeler or someone who's just starting, this episode is packed with encouragement and the shared wisdom of fellow enthusiasts. Connect with us, share your own tales, and let's keep the modeling mojo alive together!
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Mike and Kentucky Dave thank each and everyone of you for participating on this journey with us. We are grateful for having you as listeners, and the community that has grown around Plastic Model Mojo makes it all worth while.
Welcome to Plastic Model Mojo, a podcast dedicated to scale modeling, as well as the news and events around the hobby. Let's join Mike and Kentucky Dave as they strive to be informative, entertaining and help you keep your modeling mojo alive.
Speaker 2:All right, kentucky, dave. We're halfway through May, man, I know, I know Spring is in full swing.
Speaker 3:This year is flying by.
Speaker 2:So is all the pollen Jeez.
Speaker 3:Yes, I know, but you'll make me sound better in post-production.
Speaker 2:I hope so. Sound a little rough there after the grass cutting.
Speaker 3:Yep, that's what it is.
Speaker 2:Well, besides cutting grass, what's up in your model sphere, Dave?
Speaker 3:Well, we are in the fat of it. We've got Wonderfest coming up and then right after that we've got the Nationals. There's a lot to plan for in the next 60, 90 days and I all of a sudden feel like I've got way too many balls in the air. I've been modeling a lot. That's good Not as much as I'd like, but given all the demands and everything else, I got going on in my life more than I might have otherwise expected. But no, we're coming into the really intense modeling part of spring and summer and I feel utterly unprepared for it, but I'm looking forward to it. At the same time, I'm excited as hell. I cannot wait to see the Podfather fly in from Australia, Can't wait to drive with you, and he and Dr Gelbach are up to Madison. Can't wait for Wonderfest, Get to see a lot of friends on our home turf. So there's just lots going on. I'm excited, but I feel like I'm way behind already.
Speaker 2:How about you? Well, you mentioned Wonderfest. That's kind of what's been up in mind. We've been talking back and forth, trying to get something set up. Yes, it's a couple things on the peripheral of all that I'm trying to get set up as well for Wonderfest. Looking forward to that, I've already dropped the comment under the roof here that I'm going to be gone that day, saturday, and I'm going to be at Wonderfest.
Speaker 3:Yep. So you're going to have to drive down real early and we're going to have to hit it and make a full day of it.
Speaker 2:That's the plan. That is the plan. I hope it all comes together and, folks, if you're going to be at Wonderfest, drop us a note, let us know.
Speaker 3:Yes, please.
Speaker 2:We'll try to make it easy to find us.
Speaker 3:Yes, we are making every effort for that.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, with all the modeling adjacent stuff, that's pretty much it. I know we're set for Madison, so not too much planning to do there yet Madison. So not too much planning to do there yet, but just trying to get this Warner Fest thing worked out, Nailed down.
Speaker 3:Yes, Yep, well, we'll get it done. That's on the horizon. We're going to make it come together. Mike, I assume you have a modeling fluid available. I do.
Speaker 2:And what do we have? I've got little elijah craig. Oh, you know they've been. Uh, I guess they're sponsoring the, the pga event. That's coming right. Maybe it's our, was already happened, I don't know well, it's starting this, in fact. Uh, the first practice rounds were today okay, so well, they're one of the principal sponsors, so the billboards everywhere and all the box stores here in town have got big end caps with it on sale. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I said, why not? So I got a bottle of that. Okay, all right, doing my part. Good for you.
Speaker 3:It'll help support the local economy and the PGA. So what you got there Sounds like a beer. Yes, my lovely bride, uh, she and I just celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary. Once you get past a certain point in wedding anniversaries, um buying each other's stuff for your anniversary, it just becomes increasingly difficult. So my wife, knowing me and knowing that we record the podcast and I have to have a modeling fluid, she got me a variety six-pack of beer to use as modeling fluids on the podcast, and this one is High Pitch Mosaic IPA by High Wire Brewing out of Asheville, north Carolina. So I know nothing about it other than it's described as hoppy and tropical, and we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2:While you're seeing how that goes, we ought to get into this listener mail, because I think we may have pegged the needle again with this. All right, we got several in the email inbox, and first up is from Daniel Brewer. Now Daniel's from Maryville, tennessee. That's down there next to Knoxville, it's kind of where the airport is. He's a member of the KSMA show, the Knoxville Scale Modelers Association, who, by the way, have a show coming up the 25th of May.
Speaker 3:Yep, and we did a special episode on that.
Speaker 2:So to remind folks of that, we asked those guys where we should eat and they gave us a few places. And Daniel's doing the same. Okay, he says if we're down that way or anybody else come to the show might want to try out Taco Boy. Their carnitas is awesome, ooh, and he sent a picture of the carnitas. Nobody can see it, but it looks awesome. Yeah. There you go, folks. Another option Taco Boy. I think it's less as Taco Boy sports bar and grill or something.
Speaker 3:Okay, anyway, there you have it and listen. That's something that Mike and I have emphasized when we go to the Nationals, but it applies to other shows as well. Sure, don't go to McDonald's, don't eat in the hotel restaurant. Go out and experience a little bit of whatever the local flavor has to offer and you won't regret it. I can tell you, mike and I went to Amps and we went to an Irish pub after the awards ceremony and it was one of the finer meals I've ever had in a pub-style setting and it's a good part of the memory of going to AMP. So if you ever get the chance when you're at a contest, go out and find someplace local and different.
Speaker 2:Just takes about five minutes on Google Maps before you ever leave for the show. That's right. A little homework and finding someplace cool. Yep. Well, dave John McAvoy has written in. He wrote in last time asking about that new T-34 kit. He says I stayed it was by War Pig and he wanted to know if I meant War Slug. Yes, you are correct, it is War Slug, not War Pig. Well, I snuck a musical reference in on myself, dave, did you? Yeah? I wouldn't have noticed War Pigs is an old Black Sabbath song.
Speaker 3:Oh is it.
Speaker 2:Back when Ozzy was front in the band Gotcha. So there you go. Chris Doppler heard me, I guess, talking with Steve Hustad in the last episode about the little 70 second scale dial I'm considering doing and I've started accumulating stuff to do someday, right Maybe, and I guess I was talking about the quality of the UMKV1S or the lack of. Right.
Speaker 2:And he said he had a. He sent me a picture of a PST T34 or not T34, KV1. Kv1. If it would work instead, I don't know if PST is, I don't know. Is that much better than UM? I do not know. I'm going to have to get online and look. I don't know either.
Speaker 3:I think they're both. Neither one of them is Flyhawk or Vespid. I think we can be assured of that.
Speaker 2:I don't know. It might work. I'll have to look at it. I've been curious about some of their kits anyway, but at present I'm kind of leaning toward the trumpeter ones as the hull possibly. So we'll see Charles Rice from South Carolina. He's got an interesting one here, Dave.
Speaker 2:He was looking through another podcast Facebook group and saw a post that was suggesting a World War II bomber group build Uh-huh. And because he's got a few in the stash that he was going to build anyway, he's got a particular one in mind. And there was another builder in the group he saw later that was going to build the exact same plane and it must be a pretty popular one, noseart or whatever Very familiar ones, and he thinks several people are probably going to end up building the same bomber. But the thing that kind of smacked him in the face was the amount of aftermarket the guy was going to include in the kit. He just was wondering, you know, is that a hold back for you or us? He's mostly an out of the box kind of guy and he doesn't know how he should feel about putting his out there. I guess after this other guy tarts his up with all this aftermarket and is it going to, I don't know, is he's going to be automatically subpar with all the extras? I don't know, is this going?
Speaker 3:to be automatically subpar with all the extras. The answer to this and I mean this as sincerely as possible is don't care. You're building because you like building these things and you enjoy it as a hobby. And if you put your model down on the table and three other guys enter the exact same kit in the exact same markings and they went all to the nines on weathering or detail parts or whatever, it doesn't for a minute diminish your kit or diminish the fun that you had in building it. I build. Most of my stuff is pretty out of the box. I mean, I may do a thing or two here or there, but almost all of the stuff I do is out of the box and I'm going to be steve huestad or crit or luft rom or any of those guys and you know what. That's okay. It really is okay.
Speaker 2:You build for the joy of building. I think there was a time that, luckily, it was before social media. There wasn't internet. There were the forums, I guess. But yes, you, you, you rarely. Sometimes there'll be group bills and forums, but the things just seem to progress slower and less in your face, I guess in that kind of format. It may have bothered me then, but you know, I don't, I don't care either at this point. If you're going to build it anyway and you're going to build it the way you were going to build it, just go ahead and share it. There's going to be lots of models in the group build and there will be all levels and all levels of detailing, and I wouldn't let that bother me too much.
Speaker 3:Right. And one other thing, and this is something that needs to be said more aftermarket does not equal better model. In many ways, the more aftermarket and the more detail and the more all of that stuff you do, you give yourself more chances to make errors or to make flaws visible. So just because somebody's buying $50 worth of aftermarket and dumping it into the kit does not necessarily mean the thing that comes out the other end is going to be better than somebody buying the kit, building it out of the box and just doing a flawless job on it. So those two things are not necessarily they don't necessarily equate. Amount of money spent does not equate to quality of model that rolls out the other end.
Speaker 2:Well, I hope he participates and goes ahead and knocks it out. Go for it, man.
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Well, rock Rozak has written in again Detail, and Scale's got a new book.
Speaker 3:Yes, the second half of the P38 book.
Speaker 2:Yep Detail and Scale P38 Lightning in Detail and Scale Part 2. This one's going to cover the P38J through the M variant. I guess it's available now Dave.
Speaker 3:Yes, it is. It's beautiful and, Tamiya, if you're listening, you've got everything from the 48 scale kit. All you've got to do is scale it down, Please. I mean, that's killing me because I want to do several P-30s. It's just such a cool airplane. And God, those detail and scale books. You leaf through them and you're like every page is an inspiration. And yeah, come on, Tamiya. The detail and scale did their part. Now it's your turn to do your part.
Speaker 2:Well, to digress a little bit, what's the best one out there currently?
Speaker 3:Oh God that's going to be. There are arguments. Every one of them has drawbacks. Their RS did a series, particularly of the early P38s, particularly of the early P38s, which are probably the only real game in town for the early ones. Dragon did a late P38 that, like many of their 72nd scale kits of that era, have some real fit challenges. There's an Academy kit, there is an old Hasegawa kit, but there's nothing out there that doesn't present you with serious issues, to the point where I will build other things and I will wait for Mr Tamiya to hear my pleas and finally scale that beautiful 48 scale kit down to 72nd scale.
Speaker 2:Well, both volume one and volume two of these books have complete modeler sections yes, closing chapters, so folks can get in there and make their own decision whether they want to wait or not.
Speaker 3:Dave, Well, if you build 48 scale again, this is my plea, because I built 72nd but if you build 48 scale, there is no excuse between the Tamiya kit and the detail and scale books You've got no excuse for, if you want to build a P-38, to just go to town and have a great time with it.
Speaker 2:Mojovian Special Agent 003 is written in Dave.
Speaker 3:Uh-oh, where in the world is he now?
Speaker 2:Well, brandon's at home in Texas, I think. Okay, brandon Jacob writing in about Winter Blitz. Now it's an email I think went out to everybody on the Winter Blitz mailing list and most of this is covered at wwwwinter-blitzcom Some of the show details, some things they got going on, some awards changes or category changes that they're making. So check out that Plan on attending Winter Blitz. You can check it out at wwwwinter-blitzcom.
Speaker 3:There you can see the website's been updated to reflect the changes for the 2025 theme and category, so check it out you know what you really got, to admire the fact that a couple of years ago Winter Blitz did not exist and Brandon and his fellow Winter Blitzers just managed to conjure the contest out of thin air and have as much success as they've had with it. Being such a young contest. So you know, it's really nice to see them grow and change and adapt and see what works and what doesn't work. I think that's the key to a great contest year after year is learning from your previous year's performance and paying attention and not just thinking, well, we had a good contest this year, let's just do the same thing next year.
Speaker 2:Dave. Finally, from the email side of things, michael Karnalka from New York City wants to know have either of us ever used a detail set designed for a specific kit but used it on a kit that it was not meant for, and how'd that work out? He says he's may have used a vacuform canopy meant for like an old hell or spitfire onto something newer, and maybe that might not be such an issue. Well, it could be. So that's the question. Have we ever used an aftermarket item off recipe?
Speaker 3:Yes, I can tell you that I have for sure.
Speaker 3:Uh, there's a number of cases in which, if I'm detailing up the interior of a very basic kit, that I have a stash of photo etch that wasn't used on this project or that project or is generic in nature and I will rob it to imagine up an interior that looks good through a canopy, which none of those photo etch parts or other detail parts were ever for that kit that I was building. I've occasionally used a radial engine, a resin radial engine that looks similar to the engine in the aircraft that I was building and similar enough that I could put it in and use it and get a better look, even though it was not technically made for that particular kit. So, yeah, I've done that Absolutely and that's why you should always have a spares box and a unused photo etch detail box and your partially used decal sheet box, because all those things come in handy personally used decal sheet box. Because all those things come in handy. You'll never know when you'll need to dip into one of those to spruce up a current project.
Speaker 2:Well, I've got one. I think it's kind of more to the side of using it. On the same general subject, just from a different manufacturer, like his canopy, going on a different Spitfire kit than the one that was actually designed for. Yeah, I used a photo etch set on my ZIS-2 anti-tank gun Mm-hmm. That was intended for a maquette kit of the ZIS-2. Okay, which I used to have. Yeah, I think I've been that one.
Speaker 3:It was a dog.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a dog. The kit was. To give a little context on that kit, it was the sprues from the it's Larry's, this three regimental gun, the 76.2 millimeter gun, and it was a a sheet of soft tooled parts to convert it to actually a couple of versions of the ZIS, to different shield arrangements. But anyway, I say soft tool parts but imagine a flash wafer with with parts in there. Right, it's pretty much what it was. But anyway, edward made us a set to fix a lot of the shortcomings with that. In fact it came with almost a completely new caisson, because the one that was in the Mack Heck, it was terrible too.
Speaker 2:But anyway, I was building the Mini Arts, this too, which is a pretty good kit Generally. It's got a real nice fidelity of scale for most things. It's got a real nice fidelity of scale for most things. But the parts I used were tool clamps and hinges and just a few things. Here and there I think I used the little side shield that keeps the gunner out of the action of the breach and stuff. I'm trying to think what else? Not much, but it was all things that were really not kit dependent because they were fittings. Right.
Speaker 2:Where you're going to run into trouble is like you got a T-34 kit and you got a I don't know an old set of photo etch for one of the older T-34 kits. Screens on a different kit may not be the same size, so your photo etch parts aren't going to fit, which is kind of something I'm struggling with on my KV85. There's really no photo etch out there for that kit, that Bronco kit, and it's got enough differences in the engine intakes that none of the aftermarket kits for other KVs will fit it. So I'm kind of stuck. So I'm stuck with what Bronco gives me there. But to answer Michael's question, yes, I have, and that's the most recent example I can give for that.
Speaker 3:Yep, and that's the fun part of modeling.
Speaker 2:You know, if somebody's doing that, that'd be a good question to throw up in the dojo or wherever else you like to hang out and just to ask. Save yourself a lot of headache if somebody else has already tried it.
Speaker 3:Yeah you know that is a good point. Hey, I'm starting this kit or that kit and I've got the photo etch that was made for another kit. Has anybody tried it? Does it fit? Is it doable? What did you run into? The dojo is a valuable resource. We've got a big enough community now where there are a lot of people out there and if you ask a question, you may save yourself some heartache. If somebody else has tried it, they say, oh no, it doesn't work, or better yet, yeah, I did it and you can make it work, but you've got to do these things. You learn from their effort. So, yeah, I want to see more of that in the dojo People talking back and forth to each other on specific projects and what they've done and what they're trying to do, and gaining insight from people who may have already walked that path.
Speaker 2:Well, that's it from the email side. What's been happening on the dojo or on the DM side of things?
Speaker 3:Well, on the DM side it's been fairly active. Probably my favorite question was our good friend Steve Lee, who we saw up at the Amps National. Got to meet him in person for the first time and he reached out to me and he's thinking of getting a Sillaire 20A silent compressor, like I have, and he was asking me about the fittings on it. How did I attach my airbrushes to the compressor? Does it use standard fittings or whatever? So I got to tell him a story about an engineer friend of mine who, when I got the compressor originally the first one designed and gave me a parts list for something that I now refer to as the Hydra, that I can attach to the compressor and then run four airbrushes off of it. So I told Stephen that I would send him a picture of the Hydra, which I still need to do, and one of the reasons that's one of my favorite stories is, as you probably have all guessed, the engineer in question was Mike.
Speaker 2:That was a long time ago.
Speaker 3:That was a long time ago because, again, that was the first compressor that I had for 27 years, so that's how long ago that was. And you sent me a complete parts list and parts breakdown. I forget if I ordered them from Grainger or where you even pointed me to where I needed to order. You even pointed me to where I needed to order from, probably, and so it was really amusing to have Steve ask that question and for me to get to relive that little story. You know what, when we're finished recording this, I will post a picture of the Hydra on the dojo so everybody can see what I'm talking about, and then I'll also send it to Steven.
Speaker 2:Well, I got wisdom now. Now I'd order something called an airbrush manifold.
Speaker 3:I've heard of those.
Speaker 2:That's basically what we built.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I know I was going to say I'm proud of this because you sent me the list but I built it myself and so I'm a little bit proud of it. It's a manifold kit. He was the figure modeler from Chicago and we got to meet him and he sent us a DM telling us that he enjoyed meeting us and he wanted to reemphasize how you and I need to come back to MMSI. I've let him know that, yes, you and I are both trying to figure out a way to get back to MMSI. It holds a special place for both of us, in addition to Steve Hustad and Mark Copeland leaning on us to get to MMSI. Bob has thrown in his two cents. He wants us there and I've told him we will try and make it. Calendars filling up, man, I know, I know I've got understanding, wife, thank god that one's out there though, that one's, that one's.
Speaker 2:We're kind of in a glut here. Spring and summer, right, that's october till we get through nationals, and then, uh, yeah, we'll have a other than our show, yeah, the MMCL show. We really don't have much. So well, there'll be Cincinnati.
Speaker 3:Yes, that's right.
Speaker 2:Never mind.
Speaker 3:Next one is Mike Halliday. He heard you mention that your modeling fluid previously was the Old Forrester 1920. It was the Old Forrester 1920. Yeah, and he reminded us that we brought a bottle of that to Omaha, yeah, and that he got to partake of that particular drink while he was along with apparently everyone else in the known universe at our hotel room in Omaha. Yeah, universe, at our hotel room in Omaha. And he just wanted to say how much he enjoyed having a drink of that 1920. So he applauded you for your choice of going back to that. He really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2:We'll have to add that to the suite of things we take to Madison.
Speaker 3:Yes, that's right. Yeah, well, you're right, we should, Because that is a really solid bourbon it is. The only downside is it's got a high ABV and it could really knock you for a loop if you're not careful, because it goes down really easy. Out in solidarity to our fellow podcaster, Andrew White. Whitey and his Bruins are in the playoffs the hockey playoffs and he and I have been DMing back and forth during the games and the Bruins are down in their current series and poor Whitey is suffering accordingly. So just want to send positive thoughts out there. Whitey, Having had my team go out in the first round after being up 2-0, I feel your pain, man. I feel your pain and I'm still rooting for the Bruins for you, the Bruins for you.
Speaker 3:Next DM was from our friend Bob Bear, the voice of Bob, and I don't know if you noticed it, but Bob had posted on the dojo he was building a SU-57 Felit, the latest Russian stealthy fighter, and he was laying down some decals. And these were those type of decal sheets where it's a big clear space and it's just got a little bit like wing walks or something on it. So you get a whole lot of clear decal, which just means you've got a whole lot of opportunity for silvering, and he had encountered some silvering so we were exchanging messages back and forth about techniques to use pricking it with a needle and then flooding in microsol or whatever. Your setting solution of choice was going more aggressive to solve a set, or AK's Dragonblood or whatever they call it. That apparently is a super strong setting solution, and it was funny. While we were talking about that, we got to talking. Bob's a big sci-fi, avid sci-fi reader, and so we started discussing sci-fi, Wonderfest etc. And different books that we liked and enjoyed, and both shared some titles with each other that neither one of us said that the other one hadn't read, and so it was a nice illustration of how this community we've built that it may start out sharing modeling stuff, but then you never know what other connections you end up having with people, and so it was just a really pleasant conversation. Of course, Bob is a really pleasant guy, great to interact with, so I just had a lot of fun.
Speaker 3:Finally, Alan Tackett and I don't know his geography reached out. You people are bad for me, you listeners are bad for me, Because what he did we had done the real space episode not too long ago episode. Not too long ago, Just out of the blue on Scale Model Graveyard, one of those real space resin rocket kits was for sale. It was a 144 scale Titan III and it was like oh, here I saw this, you might be interested in it, which is a great way for me to break my wallet, because I've already had listeners send me two or three things. Oh, hey, did you see this is on sale. Or hey, did you see they're running a special on this? And I pulled a couple of triggers that I would have not known about had it not been for our listeners. So, A, guys, thank you for doing it, but B, you're killing me. Yep, you're really killing me, but keep it coming, I love it nonetheless.
Speaker 2:Is that all we got?
Speaker 3:That's all we got on the DM side.
Speaker 2:Well, folks, we appreciate all the direct messages and emails. If you'd like to communicate with us, you can do so via email at plasticmodelmojo at gmailcom. Or if you'd like to use the Facebook direct messaging system, you can do that as well and send us some stuff. We like this segment and we look forward to your interactions.
Speaker 3:Absolutely regular listeners. You know the drill by now if you're new to the podcast. This is the point where I ask you to, at the end of listening, go to whatever podcast app Apple Podcasts, whatever app you use to listen to us and rate us. Please give us five stars. Also, please tell a modeling friend that you know who isn't listening to the podcast about the podcast and encourage them to listen. And if they need a little help in figuring out how to listen to podcasts, give them that help too. We continue to grow and that is directly attributable to our current listeners going out and telling new potential listeners, so please do that for us.
Speaker 2:And when you've done that, please check out the other podcasts out there in the model sphere, and you can do that by going to wwwmodelpodcastscom. That's modelpodcastspluralcom. It's a consortium website set up with the help of Stuart Clark at the Scale Model Podcast up in Canada. Now Stu has aggregated banner links for all the other podcasts out there who are participating in the Spirit of Cross Promotion with us. You can go to that website and find all the other podcasts out there who are putting out some good content. In addition, we've got a lot of blog and YouTube friends out in the model sphere Evan McCallum, panzermeister36. I think he's cooking up something new. Dave yes, he is. So folks, hang on for that. Jeff Groves, inch High. Guy Inch High, blog Great blog, 70-second scale stuff, batch builds and we're going to have him coming up, hopefully in June, as a guest. Finally, after four years, finally, yeah, I know. Chris Wallace, model Airplane Maker Great blog, great YouTube channel.
Speaker 3:Man his latest YouTube video on 3D printed engines just fantastic. If you haven't watched it, go find Model Airplane Maker on YouTube and go watch that video.
Speaker 2:Jim Bates of Scale Canadian TV Going to check up his musings on YouTube at Scale Canadian TV Going to check up his musings on. Youtube at Scale, canadian TV and finally SpruPie with Fritz Stephen Lee we mentioned earlier. Great, long and short form blog, a lot more 72nd scale content All around good guy.
Speaker 3:Check out his blog and see what he's got to say. And if you are not a member of IPMS USA, IPMS Canada, IPMS Mexico wherever you happen to listen to this podcast, whatever country you're in, if you're not a member of your country's national IPMS organization, please join it. These are completely volunteer-run organizations run by modelers who give up some of their modeling time to help organize the national IPMS organization, which gives rise to local chapters and gives form and substance to contests, keeps contests from stepping all over each other. They do a million little things, most of which you know the average modeler doesn't ever see, but they are really important. So please go and join your IPMS national organization. Also, if you're an armor modeler, the Armor Modeling and Preservation Society is a great organization dedicated to armor modeling and the preservation of the history of armor, and it's a great organization. Mike and I are friends with many of the people who have been involved with it in one way or another over the years and I can tell you that they are a bunch of really good guys.
Speaker 2:Well, Dave, let's have a word from our sponsor.
Speaker 3:You got it.
Speaker 5:Plastic Model Mojo is now brought to you by Model Paint Solutions, your source for harder steam back airbrushes, david Union power tools and laboratory-grade mixing, measuring and storage tools for use with all your model paints, be they acrylic enamels or lacquers. Check them out at wwwmodelpaintsolutionscom.
Speaker 2:Well, dave, tonight our Aussie friend's back, mr Paul Gloucester, the quokka, returns the scale model generalist yes, give a little preface. Paul was reading a book that offered I guess it would kind of be a little life help in whether it be parenting or work related or whatever about being a generalist instead of a specialist. And he went on an adventure to apply this to scale modeling. Did some interesting stuff, yes, he did. Well, let's find out what he did, dave. You got it. Well, dave, one of our favorite Aussies is back.
Speaker 3:You have to actually say that, because we got a lot of Aussies man.
Speaker 2:You know, four years ago we didn't have any Aussie friends.
Speaker 3:I know Now we can't keep track, yeah that's right, paul Gloucester.
Speaker 2:how are you doing tonight, sir, or this morning for you, or maybe lunchtime, I don't know.
Speaker 6:Yeah, just before lunch. Excellent, Thank you.
Speaker 2:Honor and a privilege to be back talking to you, gentlemen. Well, I think we've got a good one. You put us onto something you were doing, I guess, a couple, three months ago. Maybe you had started a book you were reading you can fill in the blanks here in just a second when I hand you the reins but I don't think this book was being read necessarily for model building purposes and maybe you kind of reapplied it and have gone through quite an experiment and I think it's going to be an interesting conversation. I thank you for bringing it to our attention, so let's just get into it. I want you to describe this book the title, who it's by and what its intended purposes were. The title, who it's by and what its intended purposes were, and then how you kind of took it off label and applied it to something else.
Speaker 6:Yeah, of course. Well, as most good books come along, it was recommended to me by someone else, so in this case it was. My son had read the book and he said oh, this is a really good book, dad, you should have a read about it. It's about how you can become better specialised in something if you have a little bit of a broader background. And I thought, oh, that's quite interesting. And I started reading the book and I was just reading it more out of you know, a bit of work application, a little bit of life application, and started to draw a little bit of a parallel between what it was saying and my modeling. And, as I said, the broad premise of the book is that as you grow more specialized, you actually are a better specialist if you have more broader experience to draw upon.
Speaker 6:And just quickly, before we get to the modeling aspect of it, it's got some fantastic examples in there. And if you draw a parallel, one of the ones that stood out to me was there's a section in there that talks about the survivability of a heart attack is higher if the cardiac specialists are away at a heart surgeon's conference, which is kind of intuitive While the heart surgeon's away, you've got a better chance of surviving a heart attack, and that was a Harvard study that they had done. And the reason why is because when someone has something and I'm only paraphrasing as an amateur here, but what the book says is that when you present yourself, the people that are deep specialists will immediately go. I know this problem, here's the solution away they go, whereas the people who have a broader experience will go. Well, actually, that doesn't make sense and this is more like that. So, drawing from that, broader experience actually had an impact there, and there's all sorts of examples about people who are comic book writers are being more commercially successful if they have written different genres rather than just one genre, and there's lots of different examples in there.
Speaker 6:But it kind of sparked in me a little bit of a, I guess, an awakening or a little bit of an awareness that had been sitting there for a while, that you know it wasn't necessarily plateauing out, but there were things that I was seeing. There were techniques, there were different aspects of modelling that I wasn't really being able to incorporate into my specialist topic, which is 72nd scale aircraft specialist topic, which is 72nd scale aircraft. So it dawned on me well, maybe if I just spend a little bit of an intense period building some different models and each of them having a very specific, you know, outcome. Uh, I wanted to build this, to get to try this, and I wanted to experiment with this. It was a little bit.
Speaker 6:The stakes were a little bit higher than just doing it on a whole lot of mules and the stakes weren't as high as building it as part of my collection that I'm building. So hopefully it was there to bridge the gap. And so what I did is I took the principles of the book and applied it to my modeling and thought well, you know, I do specialize in 70 second scale aircraft, but what if I build a tank? I'd never built a tank before. What if I build a um, a sub? I'd never built a sub before, um. And so I started on that journey and uh, yeah, uh, I'm very happy with where, where it kind of got me to.
Speaker 2:Well, I think we've missed the title of the book.
Speaker 6:Yeah, I should say that the book is called Range by David Epstein and it is a business book, but there's certainly some life parallels that you can draw from it as well.
Speaker 3:When you decided to go on this journey of stretching your boundaries, becoming a little more generalist, you list out the projects that you decided like, as you said, a tank and a 43rd scale car, a midget submarine and a sci-fi Star Wars kit. Did you approach them one at a time or did you decide all right, I'm going to generalize and I'm going to do it by building all of these things in parallel? Or did you approach each one, do each one and then go on to the next unique project?
Speaker 6:yeah, that's a great question, dave, because I thought, uh, okay, let's just start building all of them together. Um, one of the things I also wanted to understand as part of this was am I better? Modeling and this show is all about your mojo. Is my mojo better when I've got multiple subjects on that are very diverse.
Speaker 6:There's always stages, when I'm building my 72nd scale aircraft, that I get to, that I don't like. I don't like filling, I don't like priming and sanding, and things will stall there and I'll go and sit out there and go. I don't really want to do this. So, in the back of my mind, I thought well, if I've always got something on the bench to do, I've got no reason not to go out there and find something that I want to do, so I did start doing them all together.
Speaker 6:What happened, though, was I would take them all to a point, and then probably finish one, then move on to the next one, finish it, and it started off as all together, and then, eventually, I finished them kind of sequentially, took them up to a point, took them up to a point and then moved on, but I definitely found that it solved some of the problem of not having of always having something to do when I'm sitting out there, not just twiddling on my thumbs debating with myself. If I really didn't want to fill that scene, we've all been there, oh gosh. Yeah, I always had something in front of me, but I also realized that at some point it was a bit unmanageable as well, working on all of these things and expecting them all to kind of proceed in a nice linear fashion and all arrive at the same point together. That didn't happen.
Speaker 3:Now did you find that there was a common point? You got to that, that's when you focused just on one project, that on each of the items you got to basic construction finished and then you focused on one at a time, or priming finished and then you focused on broke off and focused on one at a time, or were was each one a little different in that regard?
Speaker 6:yeah, each a little different, but probably more generally when it came to painting. So once it got to that stage, I would. I think the first one I finished was the Hetzer and it got to primed, ready to go, and I thought, okay, let's paint it and let's get it finished. And then I moved on to the car, because part of it in terms of stretching techniques and exploring different ways of modelling was your desktop is set up to do a certain thing as well and weathering a 76-scale tank while you're also trying to finish off a precise, pristine 43rd-scale Ferrari. You've got a completely different set of tools and materials and media in front of you. So there did come a point where it's just like, okay, I'm weathering, clear everything off. Okay, I'm now doing a high shine, gloss, finish that I need to polish, clear everything off and just work on that. So, yeah, there was a little bit of um. I guess kind of need to improve my attention to detail at certain parts and just focus on one aspect of finishing generally towards the end. To answer your question.
Speaker 2:Well, you've got your four projects you selected and, in the context of our conversation prior to the show, you stated that you pick subjects that you like or that would help you overcome a barrier or skill gap, and you chose topics that also had a specific goal in mind, such as I don't know a technique or what have you. Let's go through these projects and kind of tell us why maybe you picked them and what the challenges were and what you got out of it as far as skills enhancements. So you said you built a tank. I know you built the 72nd skill Hetzer from Vespid and I know that's probably a great kit. It's not very big.
Speaker 3:I was going to say how did you handle something that large on your modeling desk?
Speaker 6:Yeah, I stuck it on an icy pole, pole stick, basically, uh, with mask all and moved it around. That's hilarious. No, everyone, no one's ever going to look at the underneath of a tank ever again. I, um, I attached it that way, um, so, yeah, I, I mike, I'd never built a tank, believe it or not. I'd never, ever.
Speaker 6:And I've been modelling non-stop since I was eight, so I never took a break. I've always modelled, but I've always really built aircraft and occasional car from time to time, but I'd never, ever, built an armour piece. I built those old Hasegawa, gmc, usaf refuelling trucks and that was about as far as I'd ever got. So part of it was going. I've never built a tank, just build a tank. And the Vespa Hetzer wasn't my first choice. I actually started off with a special hobby SD KFZ and I sat down and I hated every minute of it, from snipping it out to starting to assemble it, to just working out what I was doing. I actually really didn't enjoy it. I was sitting there going. It's a waste of time. Why am I doing this?
Speaker 3:Life is too short to build awful kits and you couldn't choose. You could not choose better than vespid man that's right, and I had.
Speaker 6:I had the vespid hetzer there and I thought don't give up, this is the. It was literally the first thing I had started and I thought, all right, give it another go. You've got a vespid kit. Steve bierstedt had told me how good they were, so I'd brought one and it was completely different. I I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 6:I enjoyed the construction, the challenge of the tracks, the different construction techniques. So, mike, to your question earlier, what I was looking at doing was trying to build something that I wasn't building like an aircraft. I still defaulted to doing a few things, like you know painting the wheels prior and then trying to assemble it and painting the track. So I did a few mistakes like that the wheels prior and then trying to assemble it and paint the track. So I did a few mistakes like that that I wouldn't repeat again. But I wanted to almost like, give myself a different construction muscle memory by doing something different, and I loved that kit. I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 6:I've got the Tiger now. I think I'll do it at some point, but it was great from that perspective and it also gave me an opportunity to really play around with some weathering, some mud, the tracks, as I mentioned before as well, some rust on it as well. So a lot of things that I wouldn't normally do with a 72nd scale aircraft, and at least not across the whole model as such, across the whole model as such. You may do it in a wheel, well, or a small piece, but yeah, just a canvas. That allowed me to have a bit of a play across those different techniques.
Speaker 3:Well, one of the things you say and I think it's important is that by doing this, you're not going to unlearn stuff that you've already learned from 20 years in your primary subject area. You're not suddenly having built 72nd scale aircraft models most of your life and that being your focus, that by switching and doing this, it's not like you're going to forget any of those things that you've been doing for the last 20 years, so there's really a very low risk of injury to your modeling abilities, for want of a better way to phrase it.
Speaker 6:Yeah, that's true, and I think that when you do these things on a larger canvas it's a lot more easier to translate it to a smaller canvas.
Speaker 6:So, like I said, being able to weather you know, the midget sub is almost 12 inches long and being able to do air spray chipping across the entire 12 inches of that sub means that the next time I want to do some hairspray chipping and maybe a quarter of an inch space on a 72nd scale aircraft, I think I'll be much more adept at doing it because I'll have had that experience and learned what to do and what not to do. And, like I said, you could do it on a mule if you wanted to, but don't feel the stakes are quite as high as on a mule, because throw it out, whereas at least this is no. No, I want to finish this model, I want it to be presentable, I want it to be of my standard, so there's a little bit more um, uh intent to be able to actually see it all the way through to the end and have a finished product yeah, I loved of of all of your projects in in this.
Speaker 3:I love that sub because I've got the Pearl Harbor version of that mini sub and it is just such a neat kit and it presents such a really good canvas for playing with weathering, chipping, rust, all of that stuff and yours came out beautifully.
Speaker 6:Oh, thank you. Yeah, you're so right. I mean it's 12 inches of something that was painted black. And how do you bring that to life? And when you see the photos of them, everything from the one at Pearl Harbor to the ones that they, that they blew up in when they attacked sydney harbour, to the ones they captured at the end of the war, you know they're, they're not in great condition, so how do you still make it? You know a 12 inch black sub, but give it character and personality and, um, you know, make it appear less like a, you know, just a, a black cylinder. Um, the other thing on that was uh, I wanted to do because at the nats last year, mark copeland and I went to the pacific museum and we saw the one from pearl harbour at the museum there and the thing that struck out to me, and the one that is in the war memorial in Sydney, is how prominent the welding is on the outside.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, yeah, these things were not finely manufactured.
Speaker 6:Very agricultural and I've got some of the Archer weld decals, the 3D-printed decals, and using those over a very long know. There's a there's a 12 inch seam running down the center of that fine molds midget sub that you've got to deal with. So using the decals and creating you know the, the texture on there, using the decals and then using the paint and then doing the chipping and the pre and post shading and the salt effects and the rust effects and how I'll end up displaying it is not in the water. I'll display it as it's kind of sitting on a bit of grass, as though it's being captured, and sitting on a couple of wooden, so it looks like it's out of the water and exposed. So I wanted to try to capture that in my end model.
Speaker 2:So, as I said, the stakes were a little bit higher because I wanted to complete something that met up to my expectations so, in the context of your, your, your suite of builds you're doing, the goal for this one was to push the, the weathering, another level past what you were doing on the on the head, sir very much so, and different weathering as well.
Speaker 6:So I had done hair spray chipping with lacquers before. Um, I'd never done them with acrylics and that was a really quick learning for me because they are so much softer. But they give a very different effect because the lacquers you have to really work hard. They really give you a kind of a braised look, I found when I've used them before, whereas the acrylic's a little bit more subtle and you can take larger spaces off. There Some of the learnings that I just got out of that. But yes, you're 100% right, mike, it was about pushing things just a little bit further.
Speaker 2:And that's again the Fine Molds kit.
Speaker 6:Yeah, it's the Fine Molds Japanese bidget sub. As dave said, before they do a pearl harbor version and a sydney harbor version.
Speaker 3:I know this was the sydney harbor version let's go to the ferrari 143rd scale, which is a popular car scale, but it's really pretty small. I mean that has to be pretty close to the size of the Hetzer, isn't it?
Speaker 6:It does. Actually, it's almost similar in size, so a bit shinier, but it was the only one of the four that I have built. Previously. I have built a couple of 43rd scale cars before, but not for a very long time, and I thought you know this is an opportunity to get back to some precision and some real clean, clean modeling. Here I am, you know, weathering away mud all over the Hetzer and rust all over the sub. How do I build a model that I don't have those tools to draw upon? I've got to be clean, I've got to be precise. The finish has to be absolutely spotless. So that's what I was looking for in building that and, and probably of everything that I built, it really rekindled my love.
Speaker 6:Love for those little 43rd scale cars. They are super idiosyncratic kits. They are completely different to anything else. They are white metal or resin bodies, lots of photo etch, vac form, 3d printed parts coming in now, and the way you build them is is is really different to anything else as well, and I quite like the, the smaller cars. I think they just look a little bit, you can really make them pop versus the bigger ones, the 24th scale cars. So it of all of the four things that I've just built, the only thing that I've started another one of immediately is another 43rd scale car, which is a Porsche 917 from Le Mans, which I think is probably when we get to the end in terms of how this influences my future modeling, is probably the best indication of how I take all of this and go back to being a specialist in 72nd scale aircraft all of this and go back to being a specialist in 72nd scale aircraft.
Speaker 3:Well, one of the things with the 43rd scale car I mean you, you said it yourself the tank and the sub both have very weathered finishes in their own different ways. The 43rd scale car, obviously, unless you're doing something unusual with it, if you're trying to do it the way a lot of car kits are built, you're trying to present it as showroom new, very shiny, very, very new looking, very fresh looking. Did you find the getting a high gloss really clean finish difficult on that, particularly in that size?
Speaker 6:yeah, there were some were some challenges um I used. There's a specialist car range of paints called zero um out of the uk are they acrylic or uh?
Speaker 3:lacquers?
Speaker 6:they're a lacquer and they're a very hot lacquer as well, but the difference on them is is that when you spray it, the actual body color is almost matte and satin. It doesn't go down gloss and then you build the gloss on top of it. So probably I think the way they actually make a real car, where they spray it a little bit more matte and satin and then build up the gloss to get the shine. I found them excellent. I found the coverage, the pigments amazing and then, for the first time, I used a 2K gloss, which is the two-part clear. So once again testing something that I'd never tested before.
Speaker 3:Now, I've never heard of that. A two-part gloss.
Speaker 6:Yeah, it's a two-part gloss that has a hardener that you add to it and it gives a very, very shiny, very durable, very hard gloss, finish um and sprays beautifully, sprays really well. But the challenge therein lies, with the car that in 43rd scale it's very easy to make it look like a Hot Wheels car Right, you know, if you don't watch it and you know I didn't want it to end up looking like that. I know Mike managed to get his truck looking like a Hot Wheels one, but I did want it to look like a replica, not a toy as such. So I found the 2K was just a little bit too glossy, if that makes sense, if that's possible. So I actually tuned it back a little bit.
Speaker 2:I think so. I think there's a scale effect to even gloss yeah.
Speaker 3:I would completely agree with that.
Speaker 6:Yeah, and it was a little bit too glossy for what I thought and so I brought it back. A little bit glossy for for what I thought, and so I brought it back a little bit. And I've got a really good friend who's a 43rd scale modeler and I showed him. He'd some pictures and he said, oh yeah, it does look pretty shiny. So I brought it back a little bit. I couldn't help myself. I did a little bit of weathering, uh, on the seat, and a little bit of weathering around the brake dust, some around the brakes to do some dust, and I I think it makes it look a little bit more realistic, to be honest, but you're not slathering it with mud and, uh, you know, hair spray, chipping and any of that. It's just, it was an exercise in precision, I think, is probably the best way to sum that up and, uh, giving myself a controlled environment to be able to say, well, you can't just cover that up with a little bit of, you know, wash or mud or something.
Speaker 2:So yeah, well, how much of the uh, esoteric nature and multimedia aspects of those small kits. To what degree does that play into the the difficulty of getting a good, clean base build that you can even put a clean, precise finish on?
Speaker 6:yeah, some of the metal molds and those kits aren't particularly great. They're quite pitted so you do need to to give them a little bit of a filler, or at least a really good kind of filth primer filler um to get them nice and smooth. But the photo etchch and everything is better than a lot of photo etch that you get in kits. The quality of the parts is generally very, very good in them because they are for collectors mainly.
Speaker 2:Sure Interesting. I just don't have any experience with those. I've seen them on occasion. I've always thought it to be an odd scale, I don't know where 143rd comes from, I think it may be the o scale in the uk.
Speaker 6:Maybe that, maybe I don't know, maybe, yeah, I don't know. It's odd, it definitely is odd. Um, but you know there's no real 70 second scale cars as such, so that's probably the only reason why it's off the theme of 72nd for me.
Speaker 2:Well, but size-wise it's not too far off in terms of just actual volume of space you're working with there. I think a car to do a nice model of a street car in 72nd scale is going to be extremely small right.
Speaker 6:No we're not doing that, no, even us. But true believers say no yeah, it's just.
Speaker 3:It's just like uh, uh. Now I know you're building the avro 50504s, but I one of the few places that I break with 72nd scale being God's one true scale is when you're talking about World War I biplanes are. They're just in another world to me, just simply because it's so delicate it's like if you breathe on it it's going to break.
Speaker 6:Yeah, well, I mean it's also. You know, I knew and I've started back into the 504s as well, and I knew that they were going to be a challenge. But I also knew that the 1967 FX kits they're not going anywhere. I don't need to rush rush this. So part of the exercise was going okay. If I'm going to build this 504, it needs to be done properly. So many of the things that I've picked up building these other four kits, I think I will start using them on the 504. And I'll give a really good example. When I was in IPMS San Diego, there was a probably still is a fantastic figure model there by the name of Gary Baker and he bought in one day these things called flats and they're a yeah like a for those people out there who don't know, they're like a very, very marginally three-dimensional, two-dimensional figure.
Speaker 6:so they're flat, they're slightly raised, but he had done one. It was a napoleonic figure and I I would talk to gary quite often about because I just loved his models and I just said I've never seen one of those before. Can you just tell me how you did it? And he went through the process of picking a light source and then the light coming from the top and the dark coming from underneath, and how he held it up and sprayed it one way, sprayed it the other, what he was doing with the colour and how he was building texture in. And I sat there and I thought, okay, sides of cockpits are pretty flat. I wonder if I could do a similar thing on the side of a cockpit. And I did and I think you saw the Spitfire at the Nats and I definitely did it with the Windgill.
Speaker 6:I took Gary's approach on his flats of picking a light source and the up and down spraying and if you think about most cockpits people do a wash and the shadows on the top as much as it is on the bottom. He was saying you know, the shadow should be underneath me from modeling something that was totally alien to me was probably one of the other little things in the back of my mind that when I read this book I thought, oh yeah, okay, if I go and try and build a couple of different things, in the same way that I took what Gary showed me on the flat into an aircraft, can I take what I learned from these four models back into my aircraft? So, like I said, I've started on the 504 again and I've started thinking right, okay, how am I going to incorporate pre and post shading into the wing ribs? How am I going to do that down the side? You know, how am I going to incorporate some weathering?
Speaker 6:The picture that I've got of it is in the snow. So how am I going to incorporate some snow on the tires, like I did? The of it is in the snow. So how am I going to incorporate some snow on the tires, like I did the mud on the hetzer, for instance?
Speaker 2:so it's where it all kind of crystallizes and comes back to being a specialist again building a 77 scale aircraft well, your final build in your suite of four was a bandai x-wing and I think this one's probably I don't know which would be the furthest outside your wheelhouse of these four. Definitely not the car, because you've done that before, but now you're doing something. It's kind of an airplane, I guess.
Speaker 6:Yeah, look, it probably was topic-wise and I think the finished product is way outside what I would normally build because, um, this thing is, you know, literally about to go and destroy the death star. Um, so it's, I've tried to make it as be nothing and um, that'll, you know, scarred as possible. So, uh it, it was a great model. I I definitely will go back and do a couple of those other Bandai 72nd scale Star Wars kits. I did enjoy it, but you know what I wanted to do. There was definitely the chipping and the weathering. The construction was very alien to me. I'm very used to test, fitting parts and you know, putting them together and sanding them and just getting them just right. And the number of times I went, oh, I'll just test fit this bang, oh it's stuck. This snap fit kit has locked itself into place and uh, so I I had to rethink the way I constructed it. Um, like I said, give myself a slightly different construction muscle memory doing it.
Speaker 6:But I started spraying markings. One of the things I want to do on the 504 is spray the markings, the roundels and so forth, and it's a red and white checker fuse large that I'm going to do. So I thought, okay, perfect opportunity. There's a great company from the tech republic called Green Strawberry make a whole lot of accessories and so forth for these Bandai Star Wars kits and they do paint masks for the Red 5 markings. So I thought, okay, let's give that a go and that way I can chip all of the markings. I can do some pre and post-shading on the markings and I was really happy with the outcome of that, in fact, really happy with the outcome of that markings. I can do some pre and post shading on the markings and I was really happy with the outcome of that, in fact, really happy with the outcome of that model, and I think there's definitely things in that that I'll take back to my normal 72nd scale modeling.
Speaker 3:Well, I'm joining you on that journey of painting markings. I see that a lot in my future because of the fact exactly what you said you can incorporate the markings into the finish of the kit, whereas with regular decals, a lot of times, even if you try and work with the decal and apply some weather weathering to it, it just in many cases doesn't incorporate in the kit yeah, true, and you know things like.
Speaker 6:You have a, a black anti-glare panel that you've done in a scale black, but yet the black markings are pure black and you kind of say, well, you know, that was probably not not quite right, they would have been similar black. So it allows you to get a bit more evenness, I find, over the model as well.
Speaker 2:That's what I found so far now, you also had some, some detail enhancements on this kit you were trying to do correct yeah, yeah, that's right, mike.
Speaker 6:So, like I said, anyone who's thinking about building one of these, I definitely say have a look at the green strawberry range, because they do masks, they do photo etch, um, for this x-wing, they do a vac form canopy. So that's starting to bring back a couple of things I normally do into this kit. So I put the vac form canopy on it, I put some photo etch on, I tried to detail the cockpit a little bit, um, and I also put some resin exhausts on it also. So, yeah, you're right, it is kind of in the wheelhouse of similar things that I would do on a 72nd scale aircraft, but just a completely different topic as such. Um, and no, no roundels on it.
Speaker 3:So well, now we're okay. Bandai kits have a reputation of being very good star wars kits. In fact, I've had an x-wing. Were you a particular? Did you choose that because you were a particular fan of the star wars movies, or was it just okay? This is science fiction. It's outside my normal area and without a particular nod to it coming from the Star Wars movies.
Speaker 6:I think it kind of alludes to my inner restlessness that none of these models I purchased, they were all in my stash. None of these models I purchased, they were all in my stash. So at some point over the last 10, 15 years, whatever I've gone, I should build a tank, I should build an X-Wing, I should build a sub, and then they've just sat there. So I think, at the heart of it, I built these because I do have an interest in them deep down Right, built these because I do have an interest in them deep down right, but my focus has not given me space to be able to incorporate them into my normal modeling as such.
Speaker 6:So I love star wars and, uh, and I've always wanted to, you know, have some of these 70 second scales. So I've got that. I've got the x-wing, I think I've got the nabWing, I think I've got the Naboo Fighter. So I bought them at some stage thinking, oh, I should build this, but then it's just gone into a plastic tub up into the roof and never to be seen again. So everything here yeah, I didn't buy anything, I just took things that I already had. So inherently, I like the subjects.
Speaker 3:Going back to something you said earlier. So you had these four projects going. You were doing them all simultaneously. Then, of course, you would finish off each one once you got to a certain point. One of the things you were trying to combat was going to the bench and going. You know, do I really want to do this During this whole project, did you?
Speaker 6:ever encounter a time where you went to the bench and you had these projects and you still had the. I don't know if I want to do any of this or was was always something available. But it probably probably strangely enough, went the opposite way, that I went out there and said, all right, I've got all this stuff to do, what do I do? So it was kind of like I want to do that and, yeah, I really want to do the car and I really want to do this on the x-Wing. So it was probably the opposite, where I was maybe forced to choose a little bit more. There wasn't a time that I went out there and I didn't have anything to do and I try to not model every day, but I try to find some time every day to at least go out there, set something up, do something small or so forth.
Speaker 6:And there will always come a time, with an aircraft and by the nature of what they are and how you build them and so forth, that you've got something to fill, you've got a seam, you've got something to to do. Even even the best kits have got something that you've got to do. Yeah, and I'll be. I really have to force myself to do it because I don't enjoy it the least favorite aspect of the hobby for me. Whereas with these, particularly on the Vespa Hetzer no filler. The X-Wing no filler.
Speaker 6:The car in the sub had a little bit of filler, but that was really good. So I think if I get to the point that I just don't want to fill something, I can go okay, well, maybe I'll build a little piece of armor and I can avoid that and keep my mojo going, keep my desire to be out there and be productive and constructive and and keep getting to the finish of the model, which is, you know, I don't have a lot of models sitting on the shelf of doom. I tend to finish my models. Uh, it tends to be the payoff for me. So, um, I like to get to that point. So blockages are, you know, something that I don't don't sit well with me.
Speaker 3:I try to get through them, but, yeah, I don't like filling you're a good man, I, I wish, I, I, I had that in me, that that I didn't end up with a shelf of doom yeah, it's uh.
Speaker 6:Like I said've still got a couple of things out there. I've got a Zvezda Hurk that I have to finish, but I've got to do the decals for that. So that's what the holdup is on that.
Speaker 3:Let me guess Australian markings. Yes, yes, yes, be thankful that that kit came along, man, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 6:It's a good kit. It's a great kit. I don't know where I'm going to put it when I finish it, which is also part of the problem that it doesn't quite fit in my cabinet, so I need to resolve that. But yeah, it's a really nice kit, especially when you detail the interior of it as well.
Speaker 3:You need to put it in a display case and take it to whatever airbase the Hercules squadron is at and give it to them. Yeah, I'm sure they'd love to have it.
Speaker 2:We've talked about all the subjects, and I think one thing that's amazing is the timeline you put this on. Did you really do this in eight weeks? Yeah?
Speaker 6:I did, and this is this is this is this is the thing that I were you traveling during those eight weeks?
Speaker 3:no, no, that would have crushed me, I would have been, yeah, I'd have been out.
Speaker 6:But it was a rare extended period that I had at home before my last trip to the US, so I thought, okay, I've got some time I can do this, I will focus and try to do it. I guess it came out of the point in my mind of okay, if I build four more 72nd scale aircraft, is the fifth one that I build going to be any better? Or if I build these four, is the more 72nd scale aircraft, is the fifth one that I build, going to be any better? Or if I build these four, is the fifth 72nd scale aircraft, the number five model that I build, going to be better?
Speaker 6:And for me and this is only my kind of personal learning that I had from doing this exercise myself was definitely. I think it's helped. It's definitely going to help because I think I'll be able to bring some of these aspects back not only to the specialist topic that I have, which is the 72nd scale aircraft, but I also think, longer term, I'll probably just have a 43rd scale car on the go or a 72nd scale tank. I don't think I'm ever going to do another sub. To be honest, just apologies to the sub modelers out there. I just it was good, it was fun, I enjoyed it, but I kind of got to the end and gone.
Speaker 3:I've done a sub you, you know fine molds makes that man torpedo I do I do.
Speaker 6:I saw the, which is much smaller, by the way. I saw the, which is much smaller, by the way. I saw the Biba come up the other day and I just went no, no, I'm not building it up. Oh, come on.
Speaker 3:I think having a couple of other things will promote that I see him just release those dual German mini subs.
Speaker 6:There you go that might have been it, we'll see, never say never, never say never, that's right.
Speaker 6:And it was funny the response also, because the book says there's a line in the book that says, outwardly you appear that you are unstructured and wasteful of resources, but deep down you are building capability. And that was a response that I got from my friends when I first started doing it was just some people were just like, oh, good on you, that's, that's great. Like steve houston was like, yeah, that's, yeah, I kind of do that. That's a really, that's a really good idea. Good on you, go and do it. But I had some friends that almost wanted to call an intervention on me. They were like they were like we're going to sit you down and we're going to put you in a room of 72nd scale aircraft and, you'll be right, we're going to take the 43rd sales car away from you, just so you don't hurt yourself. I even had one friend who said you should stop doing this and go back to building your Avros. But I'll go back to them eventually.
Speaker 3:But now you can go back to the Avros with having stretched your muscles, and I would bet that the Avros are going to be better for it.
Speaker 6:I hope so. I think that I will be able to incorporate some additional things into them that if I had just built four more 70-second scale kits in the meantime, that I wouldn't be able to do as such. So, like I said, everyone has their own modeling philosophy and this is not right for everybody. I've had a couple of friends who've come back and gone. You know, I'm really comfortable in my lane. I'm just going to stick to my lane. It's like that's okay. No one's asking you to do anything. You do you. At the end of the day, you do your modeling philosophy. It's your hobby, not mine. But I'm just having a play. I'm just doing something different, seeing if I like it, seeing if it helps my mojo, gives me some new capabilities and helps me. Like I said, I didn't feel like I'd plateaued or anything, but I definitely feel like it's given me more tools in the toolbox.
Speaker 3:As such, Well, what I really like at the base of all this is the fact that you were reading a book, not to hide your light under a barrel you're a very successful businessman, very, very good at what you do that you were taking a book that was, in essence, a business philosophy book and reading it, and reading it on multiple levels, and I think that the same thing can happen with modeling that when you're looking at a technique or a kit or whatever, you can see it on the surface, but you can also maybe see deeper or see something more that you could learn that you might not have seen when you first picked up the kit, first started the kit, first thought about the kit, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6:Well, when you put it like that, it's kind of funny because you know the book is all about drawing on experiences outside what you specialise in. You know you wouldn't kind of find this in a modelling book as such. So ironically, it's become a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. My modelling has become better by taking something outside modelling and maybe bringing the lessons from it back to my modelling as such, which is exactly what the book is saying, and that is that you know, when you do focus on something, bring in some other experience or at least build some external experiences that allow you to help with your spofilization that you're actually doing. So, yeah, the book is kind of delivered when you sum it up like that, dave.
Speaker 2:Yep, well, of all the things that you got to try new are there any that were kind of aha moments? And of those things that you learned or tried new, what, what, what are some things that you're most excited about applying again on in your normal, in your normal lane of 72nd scale aircraft?
Speaker 6:Yeah, I enjoyed the pre and post shading, like aggressive pre and post shading, mike. I, I I've just started to build an albatross, uh, the edward 72nd scale one, and I've done the ribs, um, with the pre and post shading and so forth. So there's something that I've taken directly from the hetzer and the x-wing and put straight into my 76 skull albatross. Um, so that was a little bit of an aha moment of probably just getting the subtlety of it right, because it can look a bit overdone and it can also be underdone too. I think, um, that was a real big aha for me. Um, I enjoyed using the 3d printed rivets and I think that I'll find, um, you know, I use the welds and some rivets on the sub. I think I'll try to incorporate some of those a little bit more into just, you know, places on aircraft that actually do have raised rivets, or inside a cockpit where they don't bother with flush riveting and so forth and add an extra dimension. Riveting and so forth can add an extra dimension. And then, I think, also just the tank.
Speaker 6:The Hetzer forced me to consider the environment in which the model operated in, and so many models, aircraft models in particular. You see, it's always my bugbear as a judge when someone has gone to all of the trouble of putting an aircraft model on a, say, a desert base but yet there's no sand on the tires and it's. The hetzer taught me one thing it was the incorporation of the environment that the, the model subject, is in is how do I make sure that I incorporate the environment into the model so the albatross, for instance, is in is. How do I make sure that I incorporate the environment into the model so that albatross, for instance, is in a snow? The picture that I've got of it it was in a snow, snowy field, so I want to put a little bit of snow on the tires so that it, you know, integrates a little bit more.
Speaker 6:So, mike, I think that was an aha moment of just thinking a little bit more like a, an armor model, of things, that I've never necessarily been pushed in a position where I've had to think like that, and that's opened up a little bit of an aha for me of what can I do now steve? Steve talks about, you know, incorporating his. Steve houston talks about his armor modeling into his aircraft, and I know the last episode he was talking about the betty and you know, I was lucky enough to kind of you know, see that, see that pretty much the whole way through sharing some photos and that that that's kind of the pinnacle of where you go. Here's multiple disciplines being integrated into one specialist topic as such.
Speaker 3:You know he does a great job of that oh, that model is amazing in photographs, but then we got to see it in person at uh, at hamilton, and the photos do not do it justice. You're, you're staring at that thing and it's like I.
Speaker 6:I can't believe this is real thing and it's like I I can't believe this is real. Yeah, yeah, I'm looking forward to saying it.
Speaker 3:Oh god, just before the gnats and at the gnats. Yes, so, speaking of which with mike, uh, before you came on and before we started recording, uh, we learned that apparently there is a new thing now if you're going to the gnats, apparently you you're required to have an Australian in the car with you on your way to the Nats, because you know, podfather Dave Goldfinch is going to come into Louisville and we're going to drive up with him to Madison. Well, it turns out that Mr Gloucester is going to fly into Minnesota and then Steve and Mark are going to bring him to Madison from Minnesota. So apparently there's a trend of having an Australian in your car when you go to the Nats.
Speaker 2:Sounds like fun to me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it sounds like a great time to me.
Speaker 6:What all the cool kids are doing. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2:That's what all the cool kids are doing. Yeah that's right To get back to modeling a little bit here. You've got your Avro 504s that you're slogging through and you just started the Albatross. After you've built these four and learned a lot of new stuff learned what you liked, what you don't like Is there any project you're hoping to start other than the Albatross? That you have something particular in mind based on what you learned through this exercise that you're hot to apply?
Speaker 6:Yeah, I've got a Fairy Delta II, the Dora Wings that I'm doing at the moment. Yeah, dave, saw some photos of that. As it was, you have lost, you've lost. It's sponsored by Reynolds wrap, that one. It's covered in aluminum foil, the whole, pretty much the whole thing, except the tail cone and the tail nose cone and the drag shoot cone at at the back. It's all foil. So that's pretty much almost finished. It's got its decals on at the moment. It'll be ready for, I think, the model expo in Melbourne in in Oz in June.
Speaker 6:I've got a Edward 109 that I'm doing and then, yeah, the 504. I may not get a 504 done by the Nats, I'll see but I think it was always going to be a bit of a hunger game. So I've done four. I've got them up to the point where they're all consistent. The fuselages are all done. I think, like I said, it'll be a bit of a hunger games now where I'll just focus on one and try to get one finished, rather than what I was originally going to do was do all the fuselages, then do all the wings and then do all of the engines. So I think I'll just focus on seeing if I can get one done.
Speaker 3:Well, even if you don't get it done for Madison, you can have it done for Hampton Roads, norfolk in 2025.
Speaker 6:True, absolutely yeah, yeah for sure.
Speaker 3:And you've got to come there, man.
Speaker 6:I don't know if you've ever been to any of the shows the nationals in the Virginia Beach area, but it is absolutely wonderful and there's so much to see down there yeah, I'm very much looking forward to madison and, um, uh, trying to work my schedule so it becomes a an annual thing, because I do get a lot out of catching up with everybody and uh, and and, like I said, you know, that's it's about the people that you meet, it's about the friends that you catch up with at the nats, for sure. So, uh, but yeah, I don't, I don't know what will come after the 504s. To be honest, mike, I've got a couple of things that I'm looking at. I've got a couple of days with steve before, uh, the nats, so I'm probably just gonna pick his brain a little bit on maybe a diorama or something that might be something else that I go, okay, this will be the next thing that I do, whether or not I do some work on figures.
Speaker 6:I haven't really ventured into that space, but I've been having a look at a lot of the YouTube videos on the glazing and non-metallic metals and a few things like that and maybe spurring on that same thinking of well, is there anything in the same way that Gary taught me about how to paint the flats that I could take from figure painting to incorporate into my aircraft or to build a diorama. So I think that would probably be the next thing in terms of where I go to from here to answer your question of maybe a diorama, maybe a figure, um, and then just almost apply the same rules, just not do it all at once, not do four of them at once. That's, that would be the.
Speaker 3:Oh, I was gonna ask you if you could see yourself doing the same exercise again in a couple of years, just to you know, just to stretch the muscles again yeah, I, I could definitely not day four at a time.
Speaker 6:I think that was a bit silly over eight weeks, uh. But you know, you live and learn. Um, I think we get.
Speaker 6:I think as modelers, I know personally you get a bit of FOMO as well, in terms of you see these beautiful models and go, I wish I could do that, or wouldn't it be nice to be able to do that. Or you pick up the weathering magazine and go, gee, they've done a good job of that scene or that diorama. So you know, I think that a little bit of the modeling fomo comes out and probably as modelers as a community, I see that we are, you know, a lot more open about different genres and different subjects and, you know, getting out there and doing different things, probably because we are much more united as a community now and things like Gundams and Warhammers starting to enter into the modelling world of the modelling collective as such. But also this blending between armour modellers and aircraft modellers and ship modellers and so forth is, you know, something that I've noticed as a big change as well people are prepared to stretch just a little bit more and do some different things a bit more off-piste as such. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, I got to back up a little bit and we got to talk about this Reynolds Rep airplane Before we're done. Maybe we'll learn something here.
Speaker 3:We've already learned that Paul is crazy.
Speaker 2:That is nuts man Well you know, I've seen the articles in the past. You know way back in the old fine scale days and the aluminum foil or the candy bar wrappers or whatever. If you're just using grocery store grade aluminum foil, what are you gluing it on with and how are you applying the adhesive?
Speaker 6:Yeah, it's funny. I've done it before and what I learned, particularly living in the US, is your foil is so much better than the foil that we have in Australia. The foil we have in Australia is very thin, it's very often embossed and useless really for modeling purposes. It breaks, it, tears, it ripples. It's not very good but your, so our aluminium foil is not very good, but your aluminium foil is very good Thick, robust, great texture, and I ended up getting two and I've been recommended a third. So Reynolds Heavy Duty Wrap, which is just the standard one. 7-eleven have a brand called 24-7, which is just kind of their generic brand that they have across all sorts of things. Their foil is very good too because it's just plain, it's just simple, and I've also been told by a mate that the Costco foil is very good. You just have to buy five years' worth of supply when you buy it.
Speaker 2:Right 800-foot roll.
Speaker 6:That's exactly what the size is mile roll, mile roll for 40 dollars, uh. So I started with the reynolds wrap and I've been using the 24, 7, 7, 11 wrap as well, and what I found is that there are different textures in them and different grains in them. So immediately, if you say there's a shiny side and a flat side, you've already got four different foils to play with. And then I took a whole lot of the reynolds wrap and I boiled it with eggshells and that gave me a whole lot of different variations, some really funky colors, some some blues, some purples, like a almost like an amber kind of shade as well. And so then all of a sudden I've got about seven or eight different shades and then you kind of go, okay, let's grade them lightest to darkest and have a look at the real plane. The real plane was like chrome. You know it was. You know the version that I'm building was how it was when it broke the world speed record. So it's mirror finish, but there is some texture there within it. You can see some variation in the photos. So pick, you know, the lightest, the darkest, and then Microscale do a product called Bare Metal Foil Adhesive I think it's called, and it's a very thin pva style contact adhesive and what you do is, uh, with a nice wide brush, paint it on the opposite side.
Speaker 6:So most of what I used was the the matte side, not the shiny side.
Speaker 6:Um, so, paint the shiny side, leave it for five minutes, it dries, uh, clear, and then you've got a tacky kind of glue that you can put it onto the panel, just loosely attach it and then, with a q-tip or a cotton bud, just start working it out from the center out into the corners, and because your aluminum foil is so thick, it it stretches.
Speaker 6:So if you've got a bump or you've got a convex shape or something, you can actually stretch it across the shape. The Australian foil will tear, you'll get a rip. The foil that you have is great and you can really push it into the corners and, you know, make it conform to the underlying three-dimensional shape that you've got. And of course you cut it oversize and then, with the engraved panel lines, just run a exacto knife around the edge, um, and you've got a panel. And then, um, you can get a 10 000 um polishing pad and just give it a little bit of a polish and then, by laying dark colors and lighter colors and contrasting colors and different grains. All of a sudden, you get, yeah, quite a complex set of bare metal finishes across the entire airframe, which is what I was looking to do.
Speaker 2:I guess one of the constant struggles I hear I've never done it, it's just always intrigued me because it looks really hard is that folks struggle with that adhesive and others, brush marks still showing through to the finish side after it's burnished down.
Speaker 6:Is that not something you've seen or struggled with? The first one I did was a sea fire, a high, 70 second scale sea fire, and I I constantly struggled with brush marks on that. So I was thinning it down um, you know a little bit and and using a big wide brush to get a nice kind of flow paint in one. Never go back over something. So if you've put the glue down, don't go back over it again. You put it down. Move to the next area. I found that was the best way to avoid the brush strokes. But just the thickness of the Reynolds wrap I found made a huge difference. I can say that the only time I got brush marks was when I thought I'll use a little bit of the Australian foil and see how it goes. And yeah, it just reinforced me. Stick with your good foil.
Speaker 3:Now you have me amazingly curious as to why aluminum foil in the United States is not the same aluminum foil as in Australia. I just you would think that aluminum foil is aluminum foil, that it would be the same all over, at least all over the Western world. And now I'm completely curious as to why you're all so different.
Speaker 6:Yeah, I don't know, it's thin. It's like I said, they emboss it to try to make it stronger. But yeah, it's not. It's not good put it this way. You know, it might be okay for cooking but not good for modeling.
Speaker 2:Gotcha well, is there anything else, in closing, you'd like to say about this uh experiment of yours and or anything for that matter?
Speaker 6:we should look forward to seeing you yeah, yeah, no, I'm, I'm really looking forward to catching up with you both face to face again. I I had a little bit of uh, uh, faux moms for heritage con and faux moms being uh, fear of missing out on model shows, um, uh and and uh, I got to talk to you very briefly over the phone while you were there. But, yeah, really looking forward to catching up. But look, I guess probably, mike and Dave, the thing I'd say, and quite a few of my mates have spoken to me about it and this just happened to be right for me to do at this particular point in my modelling, you know, life stage, it's not for everyone, everyone and I think the most important thing is, at the end of the day, we've all got our own modeling philosophy and, you know, if you just do you, if there's a you know benefit that you think that you could get by uh, building something a little bit different and diversifying a little bit, then I'd say go for it. You've got very little downside, as, as Dave said earlier, you're not going to unlearn anything, you're not going to all of a sudden not be able to do what you love doing and, like I said the first one, that I started, the SDAF said I hated it and all I did was I just. All I did is I just put it down and I used it as a paint mule for the Hetzar. So I didn't really lose anything. A whole lot I actually gained by just trying something a little bit different and I think it will incorporate into my modelling going forward.
Speaker 6:I think I'll have something off to the side that just is something a little bit different, a bit of a break. I'm still always going to be a 76 Scull Aircraft model. Nothing's going to change that. That's what I love. That's what I build. It's my collection that I'm working towards, it's what my workshop is engineered to build. But having something a little bit different off the side, the sky's not going to fall down. You know, the world's not going to collapse. I'm not going to fall down. The world's not going to collapse. I'm not going to unlearn anything that I've learned. So it's been a good thing for me personally.
Speaker 2:Well, it's been good for us to hear about it all and be able to share it with our listeners, and we thank you again for coming back and bringing this idea to our attention. I think it's been a good conversation.
Speaker 3:And I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to seeing you in person at madison. Uh, likewise, just just remember that, uh, mr copeland and mr huestad are going to feed you really good breakfasts while you're.
Speaker 6:While you're with them I have uh had the pleasure of the huestad martini before, so I yeah, it's amazing yes, I, I, I had, I had a one or two at the nats, maybe three at the nats last year. So I'm, uh, I'm, I'm very much looking forward to that again and uh looking forward to the dojo as well, very much, which is one of the singular great experiences of the nats also as long as the police don't show up. Well, if we keep the music down.
Speaker 2:Yeah we'll keep it down. All right, Paul, we'll let you get back to lunch.
Speaker 3:Yes, and the beautiful Australian fall.
Speaker 6:Yes, thank you. It is a nice day here today. But thank you both. Thanks again for inviting me back. It's been great to talk and, yeah, looking forward to seeing you again.
Speaker 3:Thank you for coming back.
Speaker 6:All right, cheers.
Speaker 2:Thanks. Always good to hear from Paul. Hope we get to see him soon.
Speaker 3:Absolutely Looking forward to meeting up with him in person again. He's one of those people that had you and I never started doing this podcast we probably never would have run into or become friends with. We decided to do this, in no small part just because of all of the great modelers it's enabled us to meet over the last four plus years.
Speaker 2:Well, you know you've been dabbling in a lot of different genres. You're kind of doing a little bit of what he's been doing.
Speaker 3:A little bit, a little bit. Now I'm a little bit more scale-centric. I'm keeping it focused on 72nd scale, but I've got currently 72nd scale jet, 72nd scale World War II prop plane, 72nd scale armor and actually something I've been dabbling with on the side that I'll post something in the dojo about it. That's just utterly and completely different because I wanted to play around with some stuff. So, yeah, I've been doing that a little bit and I'll tell you what it's enjoyable, and the ability to switch back and forth whenever a particular model is calling to you is really a great option to have.
Speaker 2:Well, I may have to dig into this a little deeper. Yes.
Speaker 1:Classic Model Mojo is brought to you by Squadron. Head on over to squadroncom for the latest in kits and accessories, all at a great price and with great service. Are you a modeler on the go? Check out the Squadron mobile app for your Apple or Android device for easy shopping from just about anywhere. Squadron adding to the stash since 1968.
Speaker 2:Well, Dave, we're trying to whittle away at our stashes.
Speaker 3:Yes, we are.
Speaker 2:Well, it's the Benchtop Halftime Report. Dave, what's been going on? I think you've been doing more than me.
Speaker 3:I have been modeling. I've been making progress on several fronts. Not as much progress as I want, but again, yard work, memorial Day coming up, pool opening got to get all the stuff around the house done, mother's Day anniversary, et cetera. So with those limitations I have been modeling. The A7M is coming together beautifully. Now.
Speaker 3:This kit's from back in the mid-90s and the fit isn't quite what you would expect from a modern kit, but it's not bad. I mean it's not Arma level or anything like that, but it's a good kit and it's been a good build so far. And it's just coming to the point where you can see the kit together and what it looks like. And I had forgotten how pretty an airplane the A7M is. Of course it's got the same designer and the same lineage as the A6M, the Zero, and you can kind of see the same inspirations, only bigger. But the kit's coming together. The wings are together, the fuselage is together, the rudder and tail cone of the fuselage come as one separate piece and that results in a nasty seam and also leaves you unable to pose the rudder kicked over to one side, which I kind of like to do to my models because I think it gives them a little life. So I had to separate the tail cone of the fuselage from the rudder.
Speaker 3:Also again, this kit's from 1995. It's actually got some sink marks on it. They're very delicate but they're there, them sink marks on it. They're very delicate but they're there, and once you got paint on them, I guarantee you you would see them. So you have to kind of look for them and once you find them you have to deal with them. They're not hard to deal with. A little bit of Mr Surfacer and some sandpaper and that sink mark is dealt with. It's not like it's a bad one where you've got to go in and drill out and stuff in some plastic rod and cut it off or anything like that. They're very delicate but they are there and you got to pay attention.
Speaker 2:Well, how did you separate the rudder?
Speaker 3:My trusty JLC razor saw sold by UMM USA. I absolutely love this thing. I mean, it is great for doing very Because the saw blade is so thin and so fine. It removes very little plastic when you're sawing. So I was able to separate the rudder from the tail cone and yet I'm not going to have to glue on a big piece of styrene sheet or something to try and fill the gap created when I cut the parts apart. I just love these things. It's also good for restoring panel lines. Umm USA sells a ton of these things and I can see why. Well, we sold Evan on it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I know, I know.
Speaker 2:I think he sleeps with his under his pillow.
Speaker 3:I think he might. The other thing I've been working on is the BT-7 from Flyhawk. I think when we recorded the last episode I had done the length and length tracks on one side and that was my first experience with length and length and I learned a lot and they came out, in my opinion, pretty well Not perfect, but pretty well and so I've done the other side and I'm 90% done with the other side, and once I do that, then I'm going to try and remove them as one single piece so that I can then complete the turret and the rest of the tank body and then paint the running gear completely separate and attach them right toward the end of the build. We'll see, but so far I'll tell you, when I saw those length and length tracks, I really I mean they gave me pause. It's not anything I've ever done before. Really I mean they gave me pause. It's not sent anything I've ever done before. And you're talking about really tiny parts for the individual links where you're running them around the either the drive sprocket or the idler wheel, and uh, yeah, it really worked out surprisingly well and I give a lot of that to A Flyhawk beautiful molding, beautiful placement of the runners, because you're talking about small parts so you have to be very careful about how you place your runners or you're going to make it tough to get the part off the sprue and get it cleaned up.
Speaker 3:And on the model and the instructions. I absolutely again, since this is the first 72nd scale armor that I have done in forever, since at least the last one I can remember I did a Japanese IBG Japanese truck that was basically the Ford truck, but the Japanese built one. And then before that the only other 72nd scale armor I've done was that Itoleri AB41 armored car, which I really enjoyed, really had a fun time. But this is the first thing where I've actually done running gear and treads and all of that stuff and following the Flyhawk instructions to the letter really worked out. I'm hoping this one will be done for the Nationals. We'll see. I've got to get on the stick because the Nationals are coming up fast, but this one at least has the potential of being done for the Nationals. Well, what about your F8?
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, you want something done for the Nationals.
Speaker 3:I know, I know, I know. Yes, my problem with the F8 is I need an uninterrupted half day of modeling.
Speaker 2:It's almost like I'm building it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I know, yes, it is kind of You're building it mentally for me something. So, in any event, yes, it's there and I just need to pay, and you know what? We've got Memorial Day coming up.
Speaker 2:I don't make any promises, man.
Speaker 3:I know there is at least the possibility that I could end up with an uninterrupted half day of modeling, and that's what I need. Just surprise everybody. Yes, that's right. That's right. Well, now that you've given me all sorts of crap about what's on my bench, what's your benchtop look like?
Speaker 2:Dusty again. Actually, jack was cutting some wood on it. Oh okay, that's why it's gotten some activity. Sawdusty, sawdusty yes, not room dust from lack of activity.
Speaker 3:When last we left you, you had secured the running gear of the KV-85.
Speaker 2:Had. I secured the ballast and was trying to get up the nerve to do the torsion bars.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's a good question I don't know you might have. That's right, it's possible that you had done the ballast but were working on setting the running gear. Yeah well, they're all set now, okay. So now, what did that involve? That involved?
Speaker 2:finding about four that were kind of in key positions that had to frame this. So there were a lot of them toward the rear of the tank that really weren't going to move very much.
Speaker 3:Right, they're going to be on relatively flat ground yes angle, angle, angle, yeah angled, but straight yeah so I found a three or four that were that needed to be moved.
Speaker 2:So I did those four first, so now the model's standing on those four, and then I could go back and do all the others. So it just took two sessions to get it all done.
Speaker 3:You just have to position the swing arm and then lock it in place for each of the road wheels well, the way the kit's designed, that the torsion bars actually try to function.
Speaker 2:Okay, so the swing arms are mounted to torsion bars that pass through the hull and they're anchored on the opposite end, on the other side of the tank, right, like the real tank, yeah. So yes and no. Yes, they were positioned and anchored permanently in place, but what that involved was actually I cut a section out of the torsion bar when I was ready to position a given swing arm, and it's pretty coarse with it. I probably took, you know, four or five millimeters out when I cut it Right.
Speaker 3:Cause you didn't care, Nobody's going to see any of the of the torsion bars.
Speaker 2:And what it did. Was it there's some tolerance buildup or parts inaccuracies that that keep the back face of the, the swing arm, pivot from actually touching the hull side? Well, that needed to be my glue point. So when I took that section out, I could snug all those swing arms right up against the hull side. So I'd cut out that section, I'd position the swing arm and then I would put some extra thin right there at the hull side, at the back where the swing arm rear face meets the hull side, and then back on the inside of the tank I would flood the opening that still contained the remaining torsion bar to anchor that end as well. Gotcha, they ain't going nowhere nowhere.
Speaker 3:And you say that it wasn't hard to position them, that ultimately it was just a matter of getting them down figuring out what the position they needed to be in?
Speaker 2:yeah, figuring out which ones to do first, because you, you, if you, if you cut them all at once, you had a chance of it the, the model tipping off to a funny angle or something. Gotcha you know something unnatural. So the goal was to not have that happen, so I just advanced through them slowly. It took about two sessions. I had them all done. Okay.
Speaker 2:I really let the first four really set up firm and hard before I moved on. So what's next? I got to put some of the smart mud back on the diorama base and put the model back on it and get that worked in and worked up and after that it's probably going to take a break. I'll probably take all the suspension back off of the hull and start finishing up the hull and then just get to putting all that back on at the end. Hopefully it goes well. So far, so good. I think the hard part's over. So putting all that back on at the end. Hopefully it goes well. So far, so good. I think the hard part's over. So that's good. That's behind me, anything else. The E16 is out of the display case and back on the bench. I was hoping to spray green paint last weekend but man, I just never got to it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Instead you got to clean out gutters.
Speaker 2:Oh, not just any gutters. That was a grade A micro dirty job. Oh, that's yeah. Yeah, they're full of stagnant water and honey. Locust blooms.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's just the smell is on.
Speaker 2:Oh man, it smelled like somebody crapped in my gutter.
Speaker 3:It's just what it smelled like crapped in my gutters is what it smelled like. Yeah, I got, I got those gutter covers just this past year and I'm telling you what they have been very effective for me, and, boy, I don't miss that job other than those, those two projects, nothing else.
Speaker 2:I've ever done anything else on the 3D print thing. Right, just haven't. I've been eyeing a couple of things I might like to start, but I got to get one of these two things done before I do that. That's right. Well, that's it for me, man. You done with that, that's it.
Speaker 3:So, Mike, have you been spending any money model-wise?
Speaker 2:Well, we have to change the name of this segment for this episode. Dave, we had a little convo before we got started and I think we've been pretty good since we got back from amps.
Speaker 3:I think that there's a combination of two things Amps, I don't want to say broke us, but you and I both bought stuff we didn't over the itch was scratched, the itch was fully scratched and I still love that T-34 illustration that you got. You need to get that sucker, frank. I do so. We scratched that itch and then, of course, 75 days from now or whatever, we got the nationals and the world's biggest traveling hobby shop. So between the fact that we scratched our itch at amps and the fact that we're going to be at the world's greatest traveling hobby shop for four days in July means that I've been kind of keeping my powder dry.
Speaker 3:I have not bought. You know we were talking before we started recording. Not only have I bought no kits or decals or books Well, I got the P38 Detail and Scale book but other than that, I haven't even bought consumables, paint or glue or brushes or tape or anything like that. I'm actually just modeling with what I've got and you know so my wallet did not. My wallet is healing Now. It may get really hurt in July. It may get sent to intensive care in July.
Speaker 2:Well, between now and then. Is there anything that's trying to find a chink in your armor?
Speaker 3:No, well, yeah, because again our listeners keep sending me stuff. Hey, did you see this? It's really on sale. Hey, you might know that. So they keep trying to chink my armor. But no, I've resisted all temptation. In fact I haven't even gone and window shopped. You know that new Squadron app is so easy to use and you know on your mobile phone you're standing there waiting to check out at the grocery. It is really easy to start thumbing through that and finding things um. But I have resisted all of that. I've been a good boy. My wallet is healing. Like I said, it may end up in intensive care after Madison, but at least it's going to go to Madison healthy or relatively healthy.
Speaker 2:We got a couple more shows due for now and then I know I know this segment comes up at least once for nationals, so we'll see folks. So how about you? Well, I haven't bought anything, but in the spirit of what might break my wallet, I'm really, really trying to not buy that 3D print wyoming turret catapult. I think this is the one that tim holland told me not to get because it just came like a banana. I don't know if he bought, he may have a. Uh, I think he's got the other one. Didn't they do a p6 catapult?
Speaker 2:I, I don't know this company, this chinese company, I don't know man, but well, there's something else that's knocking on your door saying let me in. Oh, there's a lot of stuff, but what are you referring to?
Speaker 3:The.
Speaker 2:Zvezda B4. Yeah, that's not available in the US yet. Maybe never will be, well, but that doesn't they?
Speaker 3:Chinese, chinese eBay or Estonian eBay is is real close by.
Speaker 2:There's been a couple in on eBay out of Estonia. So who knows? Yeah, that one's on the radar. And then I want to get oh, what's the company? They make all the brass machine gun barrels and stuff out of Poland. Master.
Speaker 3:Master, I use their pitot tube for the F8.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to get the detail parts for the Polish 7TP that the Polish company Master makes. Yeah. They've got some aftermarket drive sprockets, and that set also comes with some preformed intake screens that are really nice. And then they make machine gun, armored and unarmored machine gun barrels. You know, for the twin turret version had water cooled machine guns, so it's got the big jackets big jackets on them and there's an armored and unarmed style for that.
Speaker 2:I want to get both of those. And then Eureka makes a set of tow cables for 70 piece. Those are camped out in my eBay cart and they've been there for a long time but I've just not pushed go to checkout just yet. I've never seen these at shows.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's amazing some of the things that you think about that you think you would see at shows but never do.
Speaker 2:And I'm just afraid they're going to get gone. Yeah, that's right Several things in the past that you're just not going to find them. If they go out of production, you're hosed. Yep, absolutely, that's what might break my wallet. So I've been good. I'm trying to temper my habit a little bit.
Speaker 3:Well, that's good, we're both doing good, at least until we get to Nats.
Speaker 2:That's right. There may be something cool at Warner Fest, who knows?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's absolutely true, mike. We're here at the end of the episode, I'm almost done with my modeling fluid and I've got to say, not bad. It's high-pitched Mosaic IPA, 6.7 ABV. It's advertised as hoppy and tropical and it is both of those things, but it's neither too hoppy nor offensively tropical and it's actually a good drink. I would drink this again and again. This is a spring-summer type beer. This is something that when I get my pool open in a week or so, this is something I could see myself sitting out by the side of the pool. All in all, an enjoyable experience. So how's the Elijah Craig? It's kind of meh to be honest.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, that's good to know. Can't like them all, man? No, it has that. It has a hint of that leathery flavor you get from a young one. Yeah. And this is their well, I think, their standard labels, their small batch yeah I think that's kind of just become a buzzword in the bourbon industry, uh, but but anyway it's. You know it's, it's good, it's not great.
Speaker 3:Probably not going to repeat this one anytime soon, gotcha now, you did you drink this one on the rocks or straight up On the rocks? Okay so, and it's probably a little expensive for a mixing bourbon if you were to use it. No, it's not.
Speaker 2:It's less than $30. And I mean, like I said at the front end of the show, because of the tourney, they're really pushing this stuff right now, so it was like $25.
Speaker 3:Okay, well, that's at the top end of what I would pay for a mixing bourbon when I go.
Speaker 2:when I go to mix, I'm in the I'm in the 18 dollar range in the plastic bottle stuff yeah, occasionally yes well, this would make a good highball, and that may be what happens to the rest of it so here we truly are at the end of the episode.
Speaker 3:Uh, before we go, do you have any shout?
Speaker 2:outs well. I want to shout out, as always, all those folks who, uh, help make, make the show possible with their generosity. Those folks really make it happen for us. This is not without expense, and our, our listeners, help soften the blow. If you'd like to help out Plastic Model Mojo, there's several ways you can do it. We've got Patreon, paypal, we've got the merchandise store and even Buy Me a Coffee out there. If you'll go to the show notes for this episode somewhere in there, you will find links to all the avenues in which you could possibly support the show, and we really appreciate it, folks.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I want to echo that Y'all have been fantastic. We really appreciate every donation, no matter what the size. We really do appreciate and it does make a big difference. As Mike says, it helps soften the blow of what we have to put out to produce and bring you the show. I'm super flattered by the fact that the people would care enough to do that.
Speaker 2:What do you got to shout out, Dave.
Speaker 3:I've got a shout out for the upcoming Wonderfest contest. Dave Hodge of Wonderfest is always very accommodating to us, Putting on a show of that size, that duration, that complexity, because they bring in guests and it's not just a model show, it's almost a model show combined with a Comic-Con, combined with some sort of movie convention. So they really make an effort and they make it look effortless and that's just flat amazing. So shout out to Dave Hodge and all of his little minions at Wonderfest for putting together a great show and we're looking forward to it this year.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be fun. It's going to be Got any more. That's it. Well, Dave, I think we better get on out of here.
Speaker 3:I think we better too, before I cough up a lung.
Speaker 2:Well, as we always say, bud so many kids, so little time. We will see you soon.
